In the practical sense, bleach is actually highly alkaline, like around pH 11. While it's true that the active compound in bleach is hypochlorous acid, the bleach that we find in a bottle has sodium hydroxide added to it to make it highly alkaline. I posted on this topic a long time ago, but this is done to preserve the active ingredient in this highly alkaline state. Otherwise this highly reactive compound would break down and quickly become ineffective in storage.

Still, I agree that bleach isn't something to mess around with lightly.